Concerns in Europe: January - June 2001
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Amnesty International September 2001
AI Index: EUR 01/003/2001
Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland
In February AI published Northern Ireland: An
inclusive Bill of Rights for All (AI Index: EUR
45/006/2001). The document includes a paper by
Gilbert Marcus, Senior Counsel, Advocate of the High
Court of South Africa and England, entitled ‘A Bill of
Rights for Northern Ireland: Lessons from South
Africa’. The document, was submitted to the Northern
Ireland Human Rights Commission, which under the
Multi-Party Agreement 1998 should draft proposals
for a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. AI urged the
Human Rights Commission to draft a comprehensive,
effective bill of rights, guaranteeing not only the
fullest protection of civil and political rights, but also
of social, economic and cultural rights. In its
submission, AI stated that the Bill of Rights for
Northern Ireland should enshrine the highest
contemporary standards of human rights protection
and should enjoy a special status in law which
underscores its fundamental nature. It should also
contain effective mechanisms for enforcement. A
representative of the organization and Gilbert Marcus
went to Northern Ireland in April to submit the
document to the Northern Ireland Human Rights
Commission and to present their views to members of
the Northern Ireland Assembly and to community
activists.
European Court of Human Rights said UK
violated the right to life in Northern Ireland
Since the mid-1980s AI has expressed concern about
the government’s failure to ensure that disputed
killings, including by the security forces or with their
alleged collusion, were investigated promptly,
impartially, independently and thoroughly. Such
failure resulted in violations of international human
rights. The police investigations have been flawed in
many cases; the prosecution authorities have failed to
bring prosecutions in most cases; and inquests in
Northern Ireland have failed to provide a forum for
scrutiny of the full circumstances of disputed killings
and to examine the legality of law enforcement
officials’ actions.
The judgments delivered by the European Court
of Human Rights in May highlight these concerns.
The unanimous rulings were made in four cases
brought by the families of 11 people killed by security
forces and one person killed by an armed Loyalist
group with the alleged collusion of the security forces.
The European Court of Human Rights concluded that
the UK had violated the right to life in Northern
Ireland.
Consistent with the concerns expressed by AI, the
European Court of Human Rights found in all four
cases that the procedures for investigating the use of
lethal force by police officers failed to meet the
requirements of Article 2 of the European Convention
on Human Rights, which enshrines the right to life. It
criticized the lack of independence of the investigating
police officers from the officers implicated; the lack
of public scrutiny; and the lack of information
provided to the victims’ families by the prosecution
authorities about decisions not to bring prosecutions.
Also, the Court criticized the fact that the inquest
procedure in Northern Ireland does not allow any
verdict or finding which could play an effective role
in securing a prosecution of any criminal offence; and
that people suspected of causing the death cannot be
compelled to give evidence at an inquest. The Court
considered that the non-disclosure of witness
statements to the victim’s family prior to the witness
appearing at the inquest prejudiced the families’
participation in the inquest. It also was critical of
delays in each case.
The landmark judgments effectively require the
UK government to change the procedures by which it
investigates killings in disputed circumstances,
including
criminal
investigations,
prosecution
decision-making and the inquest system. They will
have major repercussions not only for the families of
the victims of the killings in disputed circumstances
which the Court examined, but also for many other
cases in Northern Ireland, as well as procedures in the
rest of the UK.
The government has until the end of August to
consider whether to seek review of these judgments by
the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human
Rights.
The killings of Patrick Finucane
and Rosemary Nelson (update)
In April the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur
on the independence of judges and lawyers, Param
Cumaraswamy, addressing the UN Commission on
Human Rights in Geneva, called once more for an
independent judicial inquiry into the murders of
Patrick Finucane and Rosemary Nelson. He also noted
that the UK government had yet to respond to similar
concerns he expressed last year.
The trial against William Stobie - so far the only
person charged in connection with the murder of
Patrick Finucane - had still not taken place. Neil
Mulholland, a former journalist and key witness for
the CPS against William Stobie, decided in April to
withdraw his offer to testify, on health grounds. Neil
Mulholland had interviewed William Stobie on the
circumstances of the killing of Patrick Finucane over
ten years ago.
Johnston Brown, a former RUC officer, alleged
on 1 May during the Ulster Television (UTV) current
affairs program Insight, that Special Branch had failed
to provide the Stevens investigation with a tape
recording, made in 1991, of a confession by a Loyalist
regarding the killing of Patrick Finucane. He also
stated that a decision to go forward with the
investigation, after the taped confession, was blocked
at a high level.
Colin Port continued to lead the investigation into
the killing of Rosemary Nelson. Although a number
of arrests were made and some people were charged